Cancer Research Group

PhytoCloud

With the generous support of our alumni, University of Westminster researchers and students have started to develop a prototype mobile web app, , which enablesusers to monitor the consumption of foods with oestrogen-like properties (phytoestrogens).

In this project the prototype App will be further adapted to enable monitoring and recording of diet and physical activity and will be enhanced to employ recipes, social media and gamified elements. The system will incorporate a dietary intervention (based on the consumption of food with plant hormone like chemicals, phytoestrogens) and will take into account existing dietary preferences. It will include a motivational toolkit that will provide recommendations based on the analysis of user dietary input and will capture data on physical activity and supplement usage. Several user testing trials will be conducted with patients recruited from self-help breast cancer groups to further knowledge of the software development - driven by breast cancer patients’ needs and requirements. This project paves the way for a larger scale dietary intervention study aimed at reducing breast cancer recurrence rates.

The programme will further our understanding of breast cancer patients’ dietary behaviours and will provide insight into how gamification can be incorporated in software development with the aim of ensuring sustained use of the mobile technology.